Lorain man arrested after striking bar patron

LORAIN -- A Lorain man was arrested for injuring a bar patron at Bootleggers Den, 538 Broadway, around 9 p.m. on Friday, according to a Lorain police report.

James Mowery, 42, of Lorain, was charged with felonious assault, obstructing official business, operating a vehicle under the influence, driving under suspension and reckless operation on private property and was taken to Lorain City Jail.

The injured 46-year-old victim told police that he was unexpectedly punched in the face by a male patron identified as Mowery. He said earlier in the evening the two got in a scuffle that lasted about five seconds outside the bar. Both cooled off and went back in the bar with no problems. Later that evening Mowery began whistling at the victim. In response, the victim asked Mowery to stop whistling and that's when Mowery punched him with an unknown object in his hand and ran out of the bar. The victim had several lacerations on his face emitting a large amount of blood and a golf ball size lump and excessive swelling to his left eye, police said. LifeCare took the victim to the hospital.

Meanwhile, officers in the area spotted Mowery traveling at speeds in excess of 50 mph in a silver Ford Ranger and running a stop sign at West 5th Street and Brownell Avenue. By the time they realized the driver was the suspect in the Bootleggers assault they lost sight of him.

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Mowery then returned to Bootleggers where patrons yelled to police "here he is, hurry up and get him!" Mowery tried walking away but an officer was able to grab and pin him to the wall before he fled. Officers handcuffed him although he kept trying to push and pull away. Mowery initially had some keys in his hand but then dropped them when police walked him out of the bar.

Police took him to the station where he admitted to hitting the victim but said he did it in self-defense because he was jumped by three men. Police advised him it would be caught on tape by security cameras and he replied "yeah but it probably won't show you things how I said." LifeCare treated him for a cut he had on his cheek. Mowery kept bragging that he was the meanest person you will ever meet and he has at least 25-30 assaults on his record. Officers noted that Mowery's eyes were glassy and the smell of alcohol was on his breath. He denied driving. He did a number of field sobriety tests but he refused a Breathalyzer test.